Venous malformation as source of a tarsal tunnel syndrome: treat the source or the cause of the complaints? A case report

Abstract

Painful tarsal tunnel syndrome is a compression neuropathy with a variety of possible sources. As it presents a challenging differential diagnostic problem, it is often under-diagnosed. Among the intrinsic and extrinsic factors, varicose veins are the main source in case of a venous etiology.

We report a case of a 39-year old male patient who presented with complaints of paresthesia and excessive pain of the right foot, especially the medial side. Further work up by ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging and electromyography revealed an extensive congenital venous malformation of the right lower limb with subsequent compression of the tibial nerve in the tarsal tunnel. We did not treat the source, but the cause by open tarsal tunnel release. Excellent result with immediate full relieve of the patients complaints was achieved.

Keywords:

• Venous malformation
• tarsal tunnel syndrome
• Tinel’s sign

Acknowledgements

Consent: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and any accompanying figures. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the editor of this journal.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.